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Twelve and Alaska Airlines to collaborate with Microsoft to advance sustainable aviation fuel derived from recaptured CO2 and renewable energy

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Twelve and Alaska Airlines to collaborate with Microsoft to advance sustainable aviation fuel derived from recaptured CO2 and renewable energy


Beneath the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) settlement Twelve may also work with the businesses towards an indication flight proving viability of economic use of e-fuel, and to supply low carbon jet gasoline for Microsoft’s enterprise journey on Alaska

BERKELEY, Calif and SEATTLE, July 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Carbon transformation firm Twelve, Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK), and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on advancing the marketplace for sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) to incorporate fuels derived from recaptured CO2 and renewable vitality, and dealing towards the primary business demonstration flight in america powered by Twelve’s E-Jet®

By way of the first-of-its-kind settlement, Twelve, Alaska, and Microsoft will work to advance manufacturing and use of Twelve’s E-Jet®, a low carbon jet gasoline produced by a power-to-liquids course of leveraging the corporate’s carbon transformation expertise, which makes use of solely renewable vitality, water, and CO2 as inputs to rework CO2 into quite a lot of crucial chemical compounds and supplies conventionally created from fossil fuels. As a part of the work outlined to advance the scalability and use of the expertise, the businesses will work towards an indication flight utilizing E-Jet®, and to produce the gasoline to deal with a few of Microsoft’s enterprise journey on Alaska.

“By producing our drop-in E-Jet® gasoline from captured CO2, we are able to quickly and effectively shut the carbon cycle and permit companies to sustainably use emissions to energy their very own enterprise journey,”. mentioned Nicholas Flanders, Co-Founder and CEO of Twelve. “Partnering with progress-minded manufacturers like Alaska Airways and Microsoft provides thrust as we work in the direction of delivering industrial-scale volumes of E-Jet®.”

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Alaska is on a path to web zero by 2040, which would require sustainable aviation fuels like Twelve’s E-Jet®,” mentioned Diana Birkett Rakow, senior vice chairman of public affairs and sustainability at Alaska Airways. “We’re dedicated to creating SAF extra extensively accessible, at an reasonably priced value, serving to carry new alternate options to market, and utilizing these fuels in our operation – a path that requires public coverage motion and personal partnerships like this one. We’re excited to work with Twelve and Microsoft to advance Twelve’s E-Jet® gasoline, turning captured CO2 and renewable vitality into gasoline for our airplanes.” 

“Addressing emissions from the economic system’s hardest-to-abate sectors, corresponding to aviation, will take dedication from all stakeholders,” mentioned Elizabeth Willmott, Carbon Program Director at Microsoft. “Constructing on our Local weather Innovation Fund funding in Twelve and relationship with Alaska Airways, this collaboration gives a possibility to speed up decarbonization within the aviation trade by exploring the way to use low carbon fuels produced by renewable electrical energy, like Twelve’s E-Jet®.” 

Produced utilizing Twelve’s carbon transformation expertise and in partnership with Rising Fuels Know-how, E-Jet® is a gasoline with over 80 p.c decrease lifecycle emissions. Transitioning to E-Jet is not going to solely scale back reliance on fossil fuels however will launch fewer particulates and scale back impacts on neighboring communities. In March, Shopify, one of many largest company purchasers of long-term carbon removing, introduced the primary buy of E-Jet® by way of the corporate’s Sustainability Fund.

SAF is a core a part of Alaska’s five-part pathway to web zero by 2040. Since 2010, Alaska has labored with varied private and non-private companions to advance public insurance policies wanted to jumpstart the nascent SAF market, create new offtake agreements and domesticate partnerships to speed up market improvement. Alaska was additionally a founding member of the Aviators Group of the Sustainable Aviation Gasoline Patrons Alliance, introduced at COP26, bringing an operator’s perspective to collaborations driving demand and provide. 

About Alaska Airways

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Alaska Airways and our regional companions serve greater than 120 locations throughout america, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica and Mexico. We emphasize Subsequent-Stage Take care of our friends, together with offering low fares, award-winning customer support and sustainability efforts. Alaska is a member of the oneworld international alliance. With the alliance and our extra airline companions, friends can journey to greater than 1,000 locations on greater than 20 airways whereas incomes and redeeming miles on flights to areas around the globe. Be taught extra about Alaska at information.alaskair.com. Alaska Airways and Horizon Air are subsidiaries of Alaska Air Group (NYSE: ALK).

About Twelve

Twelve is the carbon transformation firm, a brand new type of chemical firm constructed for the local weather period. We make important merchandise from air, not oil. Our groundbreaking expertise eliminates emissions by reworking CO2 into crucial chemical compounds, supplies and fuels that in the present day are created from fossil fuels. We name it carbon transformation, and it basically modifications how we are able to deal with local weather change, scale back emissions and reverse the carbon imbalance. Reinventing what it means to be a chemical firm, we’re on a mission to create a local weather constructive world and a fossil free future by way of the facility of chemistry. Be taught extra at www.twelve.co.

SOURCE Alaska Airways



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Alaska

OPINION: VPSO growth strengthens Alaska public safety

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OPINION: VPSO growth strengthens Alaska public safety


By James Hoelscher

Updated: 34 seconds ago Published: 19 minutes ago

Under Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s leadership and with reliable funding from the Alaska Legislature, Alaska’s Village Public Safety Officer (VPSO) program has experienced substantial growth, reflecting Alaska’s commitment to public safety across its communities. The number of VPSOs working in our remote communities was once at 42 officers in January 2020 and has grown to a current total of 79, along with the introduction of Regional Public Safety Officers (RPSOs) and competitive wage adjustments, the VPSO program has become more robust and better equipped to serve the needs of rural Alaska.

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This increase in officer numbers is a significant accomplishment, expanding the safety network across Alaska’s rural communities. Each new VPSO represents not only an additional first responder but also a vital resource for residents in need of emergency response, search and rescue, and community safety support. By nearly doubling the number of officers in just a few years, the program has strengthened statewide readiness and improved the capacity to address Alaska’s unique rural challenges.

A key initiative supporting this growth has been the addition of Regional Public Safety Officers (RPSOs). RPSOs enhance the effectiveness of local VPSOs by providing a layer of specialized regional support, acting as a resource that multiple communities can rely on in times of need. They can respond quickly with the Alaska State Troopers to large-scale incidents, provide backup to VPSOs during demanding situations, and share essential resources across multiple villages. This novel regional approach ensures that communities have comprehensive public safety coverage including their local VPSO, regional RPSO, and the Alaska State Troopers.

Another major factor in the VPSO program’s expansion has been the increase in wages, making the role more competitive and sustainable as a career. Recognizing the high costs of living and the challenges of public safety work in rural Alaska, recent adjustments to VPSO compensation have made these positions more appealing to qualified candidates and have strengthened officer retention. This increase underscores the commitment required of VPSOs, who serve as the primary responders for some of Alaska’s most isolated communities. By offering competitive pay, the program attracts skilled individuals committed to public safety, building a more dedicated workforce equipped to serve Alaska’s rural residents.

These improvements in staffing, regional support through RPSOs, and wage enhancements have created a VPSO program that is more resilient and adaptable than ever before. VPSOs provide critical services to safeguard the well-being of residents, and the increased investment in personnel and resources underscores Alaska’s dedication to supporting its rural communities.

Looking ahead, the VPSO program will continue to focus on these priorities to ensure that Alaska’s rural communities have the support they need. We remain committed to working closely with Dunleavy, the Legislature, the regional VPSO grantees and Alaska’s villages to ensure that every village that wants a VPSO can have a VPSO.

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James Hoelscher is currently the director of the Alaska Department of Public Safety’s Village Public Safety Officer Operations Division. He previously worked as the chief of police in the Village of Hooper Bay, as a Village Public Safety Officer in Hooper Bay, and for the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office.

The views expressed here are the writer’s and are not necessarily endorsed by the Anchorage Daily News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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Among butter clams, which pose toxin dangers to Alaska harvesters, size matters, study indicates • Alaska Beacon

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Among butter clams, which pose toxin dangers to Alaska harvesters, size matters, study indicates • Alaska Beacon


Butter clams, important to many Alaskans’ diets, are notorious for being sources of the toxin that causes sometimes-deadly paralytic shellfish poisoning.

Now a new study is providing information that might help people harvest the clams more safely and monitor the toxin levels more effectively.

The study, led by University of Alaska Southeast researchers, found that the meat in larger butter clams have higher concentrations of the algal toxin that causes PSP, than does the meat in smaller clams.

“If you take 5 grams of tissue from a small clam and then 5 grams of tissue from a larger clam, our study suggested that (in) that larger clam, those 5 grams would actually have more toxins — significantly more toxins — than the 5 grams from that smaller clam,” said lead author John Harley, a research assistant professor at UAS’ Alaska Coastal Rainforest Center.

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Partners in the study were the Sitka Tribe of Alaska, which operates one of only two laboratories in the state that test shellfish for algal toxins, and with other organizations.

It is one of the few studies to examine how toxin levels differ between individual clams, Harley said.

The findings came from tests of clams collected from beaches near Juneau on five specific days between mid-June and mid-August of 2022.

The 70 clams collected, which were of varying sizes, yielded a median level of saxitoxins of 83 micrograms per gram, just above the 80-microgram limit. Toxin concentrations differed from clam to clam, ranging from so low that they were at about the threshold for detection to close to 1,100 micrograms per gram.

And there was a decided pattern: Toxin concentrations “were significantly positively correlated with butter clam size,” the study said.

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A woman sorts though a pile of butter clams on a dock in Alaska in 1965. Butter clams have long been harvested for personal consumption in Alaska. (Photo provided by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Among the tested clams in the top 25% size, 81% had concentrations above the regulatory threshold, while among the quartile with the smallest size, only 19% came in at above the threshold.

The typical butter clam has a shell that is about 3 inches wide and up to 5 inches in length; clams in the study ranged in shell width from less than 1.5 inches to more than 4 inches. The mass of meat inside the shells of tested clams ranged from 3.87 grams to 110 grams, the study said.

The detections of toxins were in spite of the lack of significant algal blooms in the summer of 2022 – making that year an anomaly in recent years.

In sharp contrast, the summer of 2019 — a record-warm summer for Alaska — was marked by several severe harmful algal blooms. Near Juneau, toxin concentrations in blue mussels, another commonly consumed shellfish, were documented at over 11,000 micrograms per gram, and the toxins killed numerous fish-eating Arctic terns in a nesting colony in the area.

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Just why the butter clams tested for the new study showed concentrations of toxins in a low-bloom year is a question for further review.

Butter clams are known to pose special risks because they retain their algal toxins much longer than do other toxin-affected shellfish. Like other species, butter clams do detoxify over time, but they do so much more slowly, Harley said. The clams in the study were all at least a few years old, and there are some possible explanations for why they still retained toxins in the summer of 2022, he said.

“Maybe these larger clams, because they’ve been consistently exposed to harmful algal blooms several years in a row, maybe they just haven’t had a chance to detoxify particularly well,” he said.

The unusual conditions in the summer of 2022 mean that the results of this study may not be the same as those that would happen in a summer with a more normal level of harmful algal blooms, he said. “It still remains to be seen if this relationship between size and toxin is consistent over different time periods and different sample sites and different bloom conditions,” he said.

Research is continuing, currently with clams collected in 2023, he said. That was a more typical year, with several summer algal blooms. 

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The algal toxin risks in Alaska are so widespread that experts have coined a slogan that reminds harvesters to send samples off for laboratory testing before eating freshly dug clams and similar shellfish: “Harvest and Hold.”

Harley said the fact that there are toxins in clams even when an active bloom is not present “is a very real concern” for those who have depended on harvest. The Southeast Alaska Tribal Ocean Research Network, known as SEATOR, has been monitoring shellfish in winter and other times beyond the usual months of algal blooms, he noted.

That monitoring has turned up cases of toxin-bearing shellfish well outside of the normal summer seasons. Just Tuesday, SEATOR issued an advisory about butter clams at Hydaburg, collected on Saturday, that tested above the regulatory limit for safe consumption.

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Volunteer team provides Alaska veteran with revamped home after major renovations

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Volunteer team provides Alaska veteran with revamped home after major renovations


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – David Honeycutt expected one of his appliances to be repaired — not a complete home renovation.

Members of the Home Depot Foundation’s Operation Surprise campaign have spent days working to improve Honeycutt’s home.

Honeycutt said he sustained a spinal injury during his Army service, resulting in a permanent disability that prevented him from navigating his home safely for years. A friend and fellow veteran reached out and nominated Honeycutt for some outside help.

“I was in getting in a bad place and they realized that,” Honeycutt said. “And they’d given me hope.”

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Visiting with the team before they began working in his home, it became clear Honeycutt’s house was inaccessible and inconvenient for its owner.

Eric Rangel, district captain for Team Depot — Home Depot’s volunteer force — said when they first met, they were mostly concerned about difficult-to-use appliances.

“Well, that very quickly grew, and we wanted to give him something a little bit more,” Rangel said.

Initial plans to deal with appliances then turned into a multiple-day project; team members built a 12-by-12 woodshed outside Honeycutt’s back door to give him access to firewood, repaired his deck to keep him safe getting in and out of his vehicle, added doggy doors for Honeycutt’s companion Misty, grab irons throughout the house, and installed new stairs for Honeycutt to exit his sunken living room without hurting himself.

Before the changes, Honeycutt said his life was heading in a dark direction. Even traversing the stairs in his home became impossible, preventing him from sleeping in his own bedroom for two years.

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Honeycutt said he ruined his own couch by sleeping on it rather than trying to get to bed.

“It became my pit, kind of hard to get in and out,” he said. “Kind of, ‘Do I bother hurting myself getting out again?’ … The house got worse. I got worse.”

Following the repairs, Rangel believes they’ve turned some things around.

“He can navigate his home, and be the independent veteran that he’s been his whole life.”

The improvements to Honeycutt’s home were made by employees at the Home Depot in Kenai, who said they’re motivated by knowing they’re helping those who served the country.

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“Just, like, ‘Wow, I helped this gentleman,’ I feel so happy,” one volunteer said as the large group huddled in the soon-to-be complete kitchen they were working on. “It makes me want to just keep driving forward and help out the community.”

The team installed an entirely new kitchen and accessible cabinets, which Rangel said will give Honeycutt the ability to cook for himself once again — a passion Honeycutt is looking to share once everything is complete.

“I won $1,000 for my chili in a chili cookoff in Oklahoma,” he said. “So I am gonna make them — the Home Depot Store — five gallons of my special chili.”

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

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